A Georgia Childhood

Longstreet was born on January 8, 1821, in Edgefield District, South Carolina, to James and Mary Ann Dent Longstreet. Within weeks of his birth, however, he was taken to his parents' cotton plantation outside of Gainesville, Georgia. "My earliest recollections were of the Georgia side of the
Savannah River, and my school days were passed there," Longstreet recalled.

As Longstreet grew older, he developed a keen interest in fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities. Encouraged by his father, he also dreamed of someday building a career for himself in the military. "From my early boyhood [my father] conceived that he would send me to West Point [Military Academy] for army service," Longstreet remembered. "But in my twelfth year he passed away [from cholera]." Longstreet's mother then moved her family to northern Alabama. A few years later, one of Longstreet's relatives helped him gain admittance to West Point...